Benefits of Spirally Enhanced Tubes for Steam Condensers in Minimum-Wright Cooling Systems

摘要

A design study determined the weight and volume benefits of heat-transfer augmentation in large steam-condenser cooling systems. By using an advanced Navy computer model and the observed dependence of system performance on coolant flow rate, flow-optimized designs for minimum system size or weight could be found for any given enhancement. The analysis, conducted for a given steam flow, assesses the effects of tube geometry, overall condenser length, and design constraints relating to waterbox diameter and condenser vacuum. The systems incorporate new high-strength, lightweight materials (titanium and Inconel) and include a main condenser consisting of titanium tubes having a 5/8-in. (1.59 cm) o.d. and 0.035-in. (0.089 cm) wall. General coolant-pumping-power correlations are developed for the spirally enhanced geometries examined. Results for two enhanced-tube geometries indicate that condenser-tube enhancement can provide system weight reductions ranging from 20 to 5 percent for short and long condensers, respectively.